My Most Myself
by holygoof101
Summary: AU... And then they lived happily ever after... or not. A follow up to Little Victories, Ryan are Marissa have happily settled into life as have Seth and Summer, but could a face from the past change all that? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

A/N: First off if you haven't read Little Victories, please read it first otherwise the events and histories in this story will be rather confusing. Now I don't want to give too much away right now, but I will say that this isn't going to be a full on Ryan and Marissa story, I mean they're going to be a part of it, however I've got an interesting triangle I want to explore… I'll explain my reasoning more when I actually introduce it into the story because I don't want to give it away right now… but feel free to guess…. Until then here's the new story

My Most Myself

Chapter One

The cool air rushed his face as Ryan opened the refrigerator door to explore its contents. "Water, ketchup, diet coke, mustard, lettuce… Hey are we eating tonight?" He called towards the living room as he slammed closed the near empty fridge.

"Summer and Seth are arguing right now over what kind of pizza to order," Marissa moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Oh, that's nice I'm sure you guys will have fun eating that, I'll just watch being that I have to cut weight for a fight in five days. I love you too babe." He bent his head down for a quick kiss to finished up his sarcastic quip.

Marissa laughed to herself, it still amused her just how much Seth had rubbed off on him in the past few years. There were still flashes of the brooding, closed off, lonely man she'd met four years ago, but every time he made a crack like that she couldn't help but smile. Even when they were in the middle of huge fights if he made a sarcastic comment to her, she had to fight herself to keep from smiling. Ryan had changed, and in the process he finally let people in, he finally let her in. Parts of his life were still hidden from her, his past for one. She knew bits and pieces but whenever she'd tried to further probe he would simply tell her that it was a different time in his life, he was different person, and it was better that she not know most of it. Marissa didn't like having to accept this, but she did.

"Well maybe if you were nice to me, I tell you that I ordered Chinese for us, because I knew you were cutting weight."

Ryan looked down with an apologetic smile, "Sorry." He let his grin widen as they walked into the living room.

"Cohen, don't you dare!" Summer said through her teeth as she stood hands on her hips watching Seth on the phone with the pizza guy. "If you put mushrooms on that pizza…"

Seth looked to his girlfriend with a smug look, "Yes, and I need mushroom…" He paused and gave her and 'I win' grin. With his head cocked to one side he flashed his grin wider then winked over to Ryan and Marissa. With the pizza guy repeating his order he continued to watch as Summer fumed. "Yes, and that mushrooms on… half," he emphasized the word half, looking directly at Summer. "Of the large pizza."

"God, you guys have been together almost as long as me and Marissa, and you still fight over shit like pizza." Ryan scratched his head and flopped onto the sofa.

"Ah, you are incorrect my friend," Seth held up a finger to Ryan, "We've been together longer than you and Marissa, due to your little break."

"Ok that doesn't make you guys look any better." Marissa curled onto the sofa next to Ryan.

"Yeah Cohen, that mean shut up…. And your little pizza stunt wasn't cute." She watched as Seth walked across the room in slow motion, leaning against the wall as he moved. "What the hell are you doing Cohen?"

"Shhh," he put his fingers to his lips, "I'm being stealth, I'm gonna sneak up and surprise you… like this." He shot towards her picking up and spinning her around in a circle.

"Put me down," Summer beat on his arms laughing the entire time. "You drive me nuts," she leaned in and kissed him. "But for some God unknown reason I love you."

As things calmed down in the room, Seth and Summer moved onto the loveseat next to Ryan and Marissa. "God Cohen, why do you have to be so gawky," Summer pushed his legs to the floor as she tried to get comfortable on the small sofa.

"So Ryan, when do you leave?" Seth tried to turn the attention away from himself for once.

"Tomorrow night." As Ryan spoke he felt Marissa sigh against his chest.

"I hate that I can't go with you. I haven't missed one of your fights in two years."

"Yeah but my fights have never fallen right before your finals before."

"Finals," Summer perked up she looked to Seth then to Marissa, "You guy realize that this time are finals are actually are finals. Like the last tests we'll ever have to take I mean after this college is over, school is over."

"Maybe for you guys," Marissa retorted. "Some us are going to grad school."

"Wait I thought my dad got you a job with DHS?" Seth asked her slightly confused, because he was positive he'd heard his dad telling his mom about it just a few days ago.

"DHS?" Summer raised an eyebrow to them.

"Department of Human Services," Marissa answered then turned back to Seth. "And he did, and it's a great job and DHS is a great place to start. But I'm still going to grad school, so I can get certified to be an addiction counselor. What about you Seth, what are you doing after graduation?"

"Actually," Seth nervously looked around the room, and then stopped on Summer. "I haven't said anything to anyone yet, but I… umm…. I got an internship with Wild Storm comics."

"That's great!" Summer cried out as she popped up to give him a kiss. "I mean don't get me wrong I still think you little comic book obsession is like totally weird but if you can make a career out of it, hey I can learn to deal with it."

"Well, I'm glad you think so because the position is in San Diego." He bit down on his lip as he watched her face drop.

"San Diego…" Her eyes cut at him, "And when did you plan on tell me that?"

"After I'd left?" He tried to joke.

"Mature Cohen, very mature." Her voice bleed sarcasm as she was obviously pissed.

"Don't be mad at me it's just…"

She cut him off, "It's just what Cohen? It's just you're too spineless to…"

Ryan drowned out their words and leaned down into Marissa's ear, "I think this is our cue to quietly leave."

"What about dinner?" She whispered back.

"We'll venture back into the battle zone when it get here." He carefully stood and took her hand, sneaking up the stairs unnoticed. As they reached the top of the stairs the Summer's screaming got louder and Seth's defense stuttered.

"You think they'll ever stop fighting like this?" Marissa laughed.

"No, but they'll never break up, no one else wants them." He smiled and led her into their bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

He was on the cover, the biggest sports magazine in the world Sport Illustrated and he was on the cover. There in his dark blue and gray trunks, red gloves, and lean muscular body, he looked like he could really kick someone's ass with his blue eyes glassed over. _Inside the mind of a Champ, an intimate looking at the life of defending IBC middleweight champ Ryan Atwood. _

The man sat in the back seat of the cab and thumbed through the magazine almost laughing to himself as he did. He shook his head as he read through the article again

_Undefeated as both an amateur and a professional with a professional record of 23-0, Ryan Atwood has become a proven force in the world of boxing. A heavy-handed fighter with both the eyes, hearts, and wit for boxing. Atwood's story starts in Chino California, where he lived with his mother and older brother, until at sixteen he landed in juvenile detention. Atwood is skittish about the details of his past not talking about his mother or brother and only saying that he meet his former trainer/manager Joey DiAntonio when he taught at the detention center Atwood was being held at. _

The man skimmed down to the end of the article, "_Atwood no longer trains in Florida, many thought that his fame as a champ gave him reason to abandon his trainers in Florida. However Atwood himself says his reasoning was much simpler than that. His reason… A girl. Just after his number one contender's match Atwood reunited with his former girlfriend, a California resident. So he opted to moved back to California, where he remains living not in Chino, the land of his uphill upbringing, but in Newport Beach with his girlfriend Marissa._

A snort came from the man's lips, 'Newport Beach,' he mumbled to himself then looked out the window. He gazed at the hillside homes and rolling ocean of Pacific Coast Highway. "Yeah this is Newport Beach," he harshly told himself.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"You sure this is it?" He asked the cab driver as they pulled up to a set of townhouse apartments.

"Well if you're sure about the address, you gave me, then I'm sure about the place."

"Ok then, thanks," he reached into his pocket and handed the cabby a wad of crumpled up bills.

He sighed as he got out of the car, and all of a sudden not only was his heart racing out of his chest, but he was concerned about what he looked like. His hand ran across his face, he wished he'd had a better shave, or a decent pair of jeans. At the least a tee shirt that didn't have holes in it. However there wasn't anything he could do about any of that, he stopped at the door and gave three hard loud knocks. He waited a few moments and when no response came, he gave three more loud knocks.

"Hold on, I'm on my way, ouch shit, there's a table there," he heard the voice of a woman call out as he waited. A smile crossed his face, 'must be the girlfriend,' he thought to himself. The door flung open to reveal a petite brunette with softly rounded features. "Hi, you must be Marissa," he tried to smile.

"Wrong, which means you must be a reporter. I do like how you tried with the whole old clothes 'I'm just an old friend not a reporter look.' I might have bought it if they didn't look like something you bought at the thrift store two minutes ago." She paused from insulting him and sighed, "Chino's not doing an interviews right now. Look I know he's on the cover of Sports whatever right now, but that doesn't mean it's like cool to just show up and expect an interview."

"Chino?" The man raised an eyebrow and waited for a response.

Summer shook her head and looked at the man in disbelief. Why hadn't he left yet, most of them were gone by the time she got a chance to get a good insult in, she silently hoped this wasn't going to be a case in which they ended up having to call the cops.

"I'm sorry, Ryan's not giving any interviews today."

"Ok that's all great but I'm not a reporter."

"Yeah they all say that. You tried hard though, next time run the thrift store clothes through some dirt before you knock on the door, the look will work better next time."

Marissa heard Summer bickering with someone at the door from the kitchen, and being that Seth was in the living room playing a video game with Ryan, the only other person for Summer to bicker with and insult would be a reporter. She moved quickly to the front door to do damage control.

"Coop, would you please make him go away, I am so sick of these guys, every since that cover came out, they get more and more persistent. This one's even trying to the whole I'm not a reporter approach just to get in the house."

Marissa politely smiled and met his green eyes with her own. Something felt familiar when she looked at him, his eyes, his features, it was like they belonged to someone else, she couldn't quite place it but it made her feel uncomfortable. She cleared her throat preparing for the polite and professional tone she'd taken with the other reporters. Growing up in Newport had taught her that you didn't want to give anyone anything they could use for a scandal. "I'm sorry, but we'll tell you like we tell everyone. Any interviews or pictures or anything else, need to go through Ryan's publicist, and I'm sure whatever magazine your with has that number. He'll be happy to do your press but you must go about it properly, this is our home and we can't just have all you guys showing up hoping to scoop something on the other."

"You his publicist?" The man took a cocky tone and pressed his lips together at her.

Marissa was caught off guard, she knew that look, it seemed so familiar but from where. His tone however was unmistakably rude, and she saw Summer's annoyance.

"Ok I've had enough of this, look you're not going to get your interview today," she moved to slam the door on him.

Ryan heard the commotion and began to get upset with the reporter who wouldn't leave. He hadn't made it a habit to handle them as it only encouraged them, however this time he felt the need to step in.

The man's hand flew out to stop the door, and pushed it back at Summer. "Look I'm not a reported I swear. I just need to see Ryan. I'm promise to you I'm not a reporter."

"He's my brother."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay so this is my OC-verse, and in my OC-verse I get to fix things I didn't like. Like DJ, he was boring so in my stories he never existed. Or Marissa, she's not whiney and a complete disaster in my world. So when they brought Trey back into Ryan's life, I really wanted him to work out and be a good guy, I didn't want to hate him. And though I hate him on the show, in my world I don't hate Trey, he's something else I get to fix for my own enjoyment. Therefore just to let you know my Trey will not be a jackass, druggie, near rapist …. Even though I think I just gave too much away….

Chapter Three

"Hey little brother," Trey curled the right corner of his mouth up in an unsure half smile.

Marissa stepped back and let the door fall open, allowing the two men to stare each other down. She looked from Ryan to Trey, from Trey to Ryan. That's why he seemed so familiar. Now that she could compare them, she couldn't believe that she hadn't caught it, they looked so much alike. Ryan was shorter and more muscular, Trey taller and lankier, but their features still matched.

"Trey…" Ryan started to speak, then stopped to clear his throat. His fists were clenched at his side; he couldn't explain the rush of emotions that flooded him. He wanted to scream, to hit something. To grab Trey by the back of his neck and throw him away. And still a part of him wanted to cry, to breakdown, to run and grab him into a hug. He dryly swallowed and licked his lips before speaking, "How'd you find me?"

Trey uncoiled the magazine in his hand and held it up for Ryan to see his own picture on the cover. "One of the guys on my cell block had it… When I saw you on the cover… Damn Ryan I must've read this thing a thousand times in the past two months…" Trey realized he was rambling and that what he was saying wasn't answering Ryan's question. "Anyway after I read… I called Theresa, I knew from reading the article that you guys weren't together but I figured she might know how to find you. She gave me the last address she had for you, which was some house in Chino, when I got out I went there and asked around, one of the neighbors gave me this address, said your mail was being forwarded here."

"When did you get out?" Ryan's voice was still gruff and unforgiving.

"Three days ago."

Ryan moved closer to the door, closer to where Trey was standing, his guard was still up, if Trey had gone through all that trouble he must want something, was all he could think. But he is my brother and second chances… He sighed, if he hadn't been given a second chance he wouldn't be where he was today. Ryan bit his lip and glanced over to Marissa. Second chances, he thought again. "You wanna come in?"

Trey nodded and cautiously stepped into the apartment, "Nice place little brother, a little girlie though don't you think?"

"Well, it's not my place… I mean I live here, but it's Marissa and Summer's place." He pointed over to them, then walked over and took Marissa by the hand, giving it a slight squeeze. "This is Marissa, that's Summer, and over there on the floor totally oblivious because he's playing a video game is Seth."

"Hi," Seth threw a hand up in the air and called out without ever taking his eyes off the monsters he was battling in the game.

"Marissa, Summer, this is my brother Trey." He took a sigh of relief at the end of the introductions. Ryan couldn't explain why he felt such relief, maybe it was knowing his only brother was okay, maybe it was not having to worry that he might pop up one day anymore, or maybe it was just a general sigh of overall relief.

"Well I've figured that out by now, of course that was after he tried to attack me with my own front door," Summer responded in annoyance.

"Yeah… ummm sorry about that."

"You should be," she told him as she turned and saunter into the living room and sat down next to Seth.

"So… you actually managed to take what you did best and make an honest living out of it little bro. That's great for you, I wish there was a way I could make an honest living boosting cars." He tried to ease the discomfort in the room with a joke, but all it did was add to it.

"Yeah," Ryan gave half a fake laugh. "So where have you been staying… since you got out I mean."

Trey shrugged, he didn't want to answer the question. He didn't want his little brother to know that he left jail with no place to go and had been sleeping on the floors of various peoples houses for the last few days. "Couple of different places. I mean no place perament yet. I mean I've barely had time to realize I'm actually out of jail, that I'm not just on a work release and have to go back at night."

"So where are you keeping your stuff then?" Marissa tentativly asked.

He held his arms out and motioned up and down his body, "You're looking at it…. My stuff that is." He looked up to Marissa, then over at Ryan. He could see the look in his brother's eyes, the look like told him Ryan was waiting for him to ask for money or a place to stay. He hadn't come here for that. The last thing he'd asked his brother for was help in stealing a car, it was a request that landed both of them in jail. Trey had seven years to think about what his request had cost them both, and he swore that he would never ask his brother for anything ever again.

"Could you excuse us for a moment?" Marissa politely asked and once Trey had nodded she turned to Ryan, "Could we talk in the kitchen?" She took his hand and lead him into the kitchen.

Before she even had a chance to say anything Ryan spoke, "No. The answer is no, it's not going to happen." His voice was firm, this was one subject that was not open for discussion, just because Trey showed up out of nowhere didn't mean that Ryan was going to immediately let him into his life.

"Ryan," her voice pleaded. She knew that Ryan still harbored anger over what had happened between him and his brother years ago. But she also knew that the only way Ryan would never be able to deal with those feelings if his brother weren't around. "He's your brother, and he's been in prison for the last what seven years… He doesn't have a place to stay, and… it sure as hell looks like he doesn't anything much of anything. Which means that the chances are if someone doesn't give him a break soon, he's gonna go out and steal a car or rob a store or any of a number of things… And even though I know you're less than thrilled to see him here and you've still got issues with him that have never been dealt with… Why not give him a chance, and in turn give yourself a chance."

Trey tried to pretend that he couldn't hear their kitchen conversation from the living room. He tried to focus on watching Seth play the game, he tried to turn his thoughts to how far advanced video games had gotten since he'd been in the real world. But all he could hear was his brother's voice bleeding anger and resentment towards him.

"So…" Seth paused his game. "You're Ryan's brother… Trey…"Seth studied his face, seeing how much they looked alike. He wondered for a moment if they favored their mother or their father or if they even knew who they favored. Seth knew that he favored his father, it was something he took forgranted. But in the years he had known Ryan, he's learned that he took a lot of things forgranted.

"Yeah."

When Trey gave him a one word response Seth smiled, yep they were certainly brothers. "You're not much for the words… Ryan wasn't much for the words when I first met him either. Actually come to think of it he's still not much for the words. Must be some kind of family trait."

"You like to talk huh?"

"He never shuts up, never." Summer answered for Seth in an effort to keep him quiet.

Trey's head snapped around when he saw Marissa and Ryan emerge from the kitchen. Before Ryan even a chance to speak Trey stood up, only to have Ryan hold his hand out in a motion to let him speak first.

"So we were talking, and… we don't have a lot of room here, I mean Summer lives here too, so we don't have a guest room or anything but we do have a couch… And that's got to be better than some guy's floor right?" He forced a half smile.

"Look Ry, I didn't come here for a hand out, and I know that's what you're thinking and…"

"No… I…. Want you too, stay here with us. I mean it'll only be for a little bit while you et back on your feet. I mean you're my brother the least I can do is help you out, I mean in a twisted way I would be here if it weren't for you. But I will tell you right now, this is all you get with me, I'll help you in anyway I can but don't screw it up, you screw it up and we're done." His voice was as stone cold serious as ice.

Trey met his brother's steel blue gaze, and nodded. The two brother stared at each other in a silent understanding, the sounds of a video game on the television the only sound in the distance. As they stared, Summer quietly tugged Marissa onto the porch and slid the door closed without anyone noticing.

"Ummm hello, Coop did you and Chino forget that I live here too? I mean you invite a convict to sleep on my couch without even bothering to consult me?"

"Must I remind you I bought the couch?"

"I don't care who bought the couch I care that there's going to be a felon sleeping on it."

"Look Sum, Ryan's got a lot of issues with Trey that he needs to work out and I know it's selfish but with Trey here I finally get to be a part of Ryan's old life… I know you're not happy about it but he's Ryan's brother we all need to just give him a chance, the same way we did Ryan."

"I only gave Ryan a chance because you were in love with him… And if you'll remember it took me a while to even do that."

"Sum…" Marissa pleaded with her in the same voice she'd used with Ryan earlier.

"Fine he can stay… But I'm sleeping with my door locked."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The sun had started bleeding into the living room hours ago. Trey had done his best to ignore it and keep sleeping; his little brother's sofa was the most comfortable thing he'd ever slept on. Even his bed before he went to prison hadn't felt that good. It was only once people started coming down the stairs and moving around that Trey finally opened his eyes and started getting up. A tightness had formed in his chest overnight and as soon as he sat up he began coughing.

"You sound kinda rough man." Ryan told his brother as he came down the stairs freshly showered.

"Yeah, that's my body telling me I need a cigarette." Trey yawned back as he stood up and stretched his tense muscles. He reached down and took his pack of cigarettes out of his shoe, where he'd put them last night before he'd fallen asleep. "I'm just gonna step outside for a minute." He told Ryan as he opened the sliding glass door that led to the back porch. As soon as he fired up his lighter, before he even took the first drag, Trey's body felt relief. His senses perked up and he could hear the tobacco crackling with each drag his took.

"You know smoking kills people."

Caught off guard Trey looked over to see Summer sunbathing on a chase lounge just a few feet away from him. He hadn't noticed her went he came outside, but then again he hadn't been looking either. Casually he looked down at her bikini-clad body, and then up at the sun, then back down to Summer again. "So does the sun." He dryly responded.

Summer reached up and slid her sunglasses down a bit, and cut her eyes towards him. She had expected him to shrug and continue smoking at her comment. What she hadn't expected was such a dry and almost mean response. "Guess you have a point," she met his eyes they were a hazy green with a coldness behind them. Something about it sent shivers through her.

"I know I do," he tore his eyes from hers, years of prison not allowing him to make eye contact with someone for too long.  
A moment passed before she turned herself towards him, "I'm sorry for insulting you yesterday. I mean your clothes and stuff I didn't know that…"

He cut her sentence off not wanting to hear what he assumed would be her fake apology, "And had you known you still would have done it." His voice was harsh and raspy.

She felt her jaw slip down at bit at his words. Summer felt hurt and insulted by the way he'd just spoken to her. Not that he didn't have every right to be bitter and angry at the world, she got that, but he had no reason to talk to her that way. After all she was trying to be nice. "Look I'm not the bitch you seem to think I am," she bluntly told him.

"Really? Could have fooled me, the second you answered the door every word you said to me gave the impression bitch. So if you're not a bitch, then what are you?" Trey took a hard drag on his cigarette, then turned to Summer waiting for a response.

"I'm not a bitch, I'm just… protective."

"Protective?"

"Yeah, I'm very protective of the people I care about, and as much as I hate to admit this Chino's included in that circle." Trey gave her a half smile, one that reminded her of Ryan and the way he smiled at Marissa sometimes. "Look I'm sorry if I came off bitchy, or if I continue to come off as bitchy, it's just… Ryan gets a lot of people who show up here and want something. A picture, an interview, an autograph, money, and nine times out of ten he gives it to them. Unless someone gets to the door first, he's been through enough shit, he doesn't need more people in his life using him."

"You don't think I know that? I probably know a lot better than you do what he's been through, at least up to a point… I'm not here looking for a handout; I'm not here looking for anything except a chance to et to know my little brother again. A chance to… make up for what I did to him… Just a chance," his eyes bore into her, trying to breakdown whatever impression she had of him. Slowly he pulled them away and looked back out into the distance, "But then isn't that what everyone's looking for?"

Summer felt the desperation in his words, and she felt his pain as she watched his pained eyes staring out into the distance. The need to take his pain away flooded over her; she couldn't explain why she felt that need. And she sure as hell didn't understand it. They had nothing in common, and they had the complete wrong impressions of the other. There was no reason for them to be wasting their time even bothering to exchange words, but still they were. And now a silence had fallen between them, a silence with an undertone neither was willing to acknowledge. Trey finished the last drag of his cigarette. Summer watched as he leaned down and scrapped the embers on the bottom of his shoe before he pocketed the butt. No more words were spoken before Trey went inside, but his last words lingered in her mind, and once she heard the door slide shut she looked out into the same distance he'd been looking into moment before.

"And it is," with her voice barely at a whisper she answered his question.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_Was it fate that brought us here?_

_Or my mistakes I made in fear?_

_Well is it too late to change my mind?_

_Who have I been?_

_----Edinger by Waking Ashland_

A loud thud echoed through the foyer as Summer's knee collided with the small table just past the front door, "Ouch shit, why did Marissa insist putting that there." Summer limped down the hall and mumbled to herself trying to be quiet as she made her way into the living room. It was nearing two am and she didn't want to wake Trey, but as she passed the sofa Summer quickly noticed it was empty. Her senses immediately went into overdrive as she listened to her if he was possibly in the kitchen, but it was the orange glow of a cigarette coming from the back porch that caught her attention.

The sound of the sliding glass door opening broke the silence of the night and startled Trey. His head snapped in the direction of the door and his eyes were met by an apologetic Summer's.

"Sorry, did I scare you?"

"Just wasn't expecting anyone."

"It's two in the morning, what are you still doing awake?"

Trey shrugged, and then twisted his face in an awkward manner, "I couldn't sleep and Ryan and Marissa were…I mean" he stopped his sentence there.

If you'd have asked her right then at that moment, she could have sworn that Trey was blushing. She gave him a soft smiled, then let a laugh escape her lips; "They do that a lot. And at least you bedroom doesn't share a wall with theirs."

"Yeah you have a point."

Something was off about him. Summer didn't know how she could tell this, she'd only known him for three days, but she could tell just by the way he spoke that something wasn't quite right. "You wanna go for a walk?" She almost clasped her hands to her mouth after the words came out. She didn't know why she had just asked him to take a walk with her. She didn't even know why she had felt the need to come outside and find him when she got home. What she did know was that she really wanted Trey to say yes.

"It's two in the morning."

"So?"

The tone in her voice said something to Trey. It reminded him of the girls he'd dated in Chino, girls who didn't care about what they were and weren't suppose to do. Girls who didn't care about getting into fights or breaking curfew. Summer didn't care about what time it was. "Okay."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"So how long have you and your boyfriend been together?" Trey asked trying to make small talk as the made their way down the beach.

"Couple of years. How long were you in prison?"

"Seven years. Two years for violating my probation and five for stealing the car. I served my whole sentence not a day less."

"Must have been hard, having all that time to think about how one mistake changed your whole life." Her voice was meek, and soft as she made her statement, meant as a question.

"I didn't just make one mistake, I made a lot of mistakes that led up to one moment." Trey stopped and took a deep breath.

Summer hadn't meant for the question to cause him pain, "Sorry I didn't mean too…"

"No it's okay. I don't regret what I did to myself, truthfully it was jail that's kept me alive so far. But I do regret what happened to Ryan because of me. You know he got caught up in my bad decision. Not that I ever made any good decisions, but… It shouldn't have cost Ryan what it did. I don't want to be that person anymore I wanna be different, I wanna be someone people can respect. You know what I mean, I want to do right by my little brother, make it up to him, be the kind of big brother he can really be proud of."

"Well in spite of it all Chino's done pretty good for himself."

"Yeah he sure has… Why do you call him Chino?"

Summer laughed to herself as she thought about why she actually did call him Chino, "When Marissa first met Ryan, he invited her to his birthday party. And when I found out it was in Chino, I was… well no offense but Chino, ew. So we went to his party and Seth got drunk trying to impress me, somehow because of that this big brawl broke out and Ryan saved our ass and wee all took off running…" By that point in the story, she had started laughing so much he could barely understand what she was saying.

"So what does that have to do with why you call him Chino?"

"Well after that incident, he wasn't exactly my favorite person, and as you've already learned I'm over protective of the people I love, and that can sometimes manifest itself as bitchiness. And calling him Chino at first was my way of making sure he knew that I didn't like him. Now it's a term of endearment. I mean even after that disastrous party, Ryan turned out to be a really good person. He really loves Marissa and he makes her happy, and I love him for that. And he's a really good friend."

"So I guess that taught you that first impressions aren't everything, and sometimes people aren't all that bad once you get to know them?" He reached up and scratched his head as he waited for some kind of response.

"Yeah I guess you're right?" She stopped walking and smiled at him.

God I love that sound," Trey closed his eyes and listened to the waves crashing against the beach. "There was a time I got hopeless and I never thought I'd hear it again. So at night I'd lying in my bunk and try to ignore the wires of cheap mattress springs stabbing into my back. And whenever I really needed to get my mind off of things I'd dream about living by the ocean so I could go to sleep every night and wake up every morning to that sound."

For the first time, Summer saw him smile, not the smirk he'd given her before but a real smile. A smile that read content, a smile that read happy, even if it was only temporary. "I've always lived by the ocean, so I guess I take it for granted."

Trey opened his eyes and looked down at her and this time he noticed her. She wasn't the bitchy girl who'd answered the door; she wasn't Ryan's roommate. Right then she was just a girl standing in front of him and she was beautiful. Her face looked like it was craved from ivory, her features perfectly rounded. The way her black hair glimmered in the moon. For a few split seconds he let his mind wander, he wondered what it would be like to touch her face, if her skin was really as soft as it looked. He wondered what it would be like to bury his face in her hair, if it smelled sweet like honey suckles and ocean air. He knew that there was no way any of it would ever happen, but just for a second he wished. It had only been a few seconds, but by the time he let himself stray away from her it felt like they been on her forever.

"How could anyone ever taken something like this for granted?" He lifted his arms out at the ocean, and started kicking his shoes off.

"Trey what are you doing?"

He didn't answer her, but left his shoes on the beach and started running directly into the Pacific Ocean. "Are you coming?" He called out to her as he stood waist deep in the water. "Smell it, the water, the ocean." He bounced with the crashing waves; "Fell the waves? Come on!" He yelled his voice full of energy and excitement. "Are you coming?"

Summer ran out to the edge of the water, letting to get about ankle deep on her, "Have you lost your mind?" She called out to him, "You're fully clothed and standing in the in the freaking ocean."

"Yeah so?" Trey dove his head into the water, and swam towards Summer until the water got too shallow. Throwing himself up from the water, he shook vigorously throwing water everywhere, including on Summer. "I'm going back out there, are you coming?"

Summer laughed and shook her head at him. "You look like a madman out there," she screamed laughing the entire time.

"Maybe so, but I'm going back out there, and you're coming with me," he lunged forward and picked her up, spinning her around as he made his way out into deeper parts of the ocean. She was still laughing as he spun her around, playful beating on his arms, Trey laughed out loud and gave her a small toss into the ocean, just enough to drunk her under the water.

"Now I know you've lost you mind," Summer came up from the water her wet hair matted to her head, her clothes clinging to her body. "Now we're both soaking wet, in the middle of the ocean, with a mile walk back home. You're crazy," she laughed.

"Maybe I am but how could you not want to be a part of this? Look!" He pointed to the sky, "The sun's coming up, and we're in the ocean. How could you not want to be a part of this? This," he reached his hands down and splashed up water, "This, is what connects everything to everything else. The currents, the water, the waves, if we were to let ourselves float out to sea, eventually we could set foot on every body of land in the world. How could you not want to be a part of something so big every chance you got?"

He spoke with so much enthusiasm and vigor. His voice was wild and happy, Summer was mesmerized by the way he looked at things. Maybe he saw them that way because he'd spent so much time locked away from the world, or maybe it was because he was a man who had just been given a new chance at life. Whatever made him the way he was right then, Summer didn't care the way he spoke, the look on his face, everything about him made her smile. "We should get back to the house."

Trey stopped splashing around and sighed, "Yeah we probably should,' he ran a head of her towards the shore, "Here let me help you out of the water?" He reached out to her.

"Thanks," she took his hand.

When they made intentional, unabashed, expected contact for the first time, it was like someone set a fire in their hands, letting each of them see something about the other. Trey saw the contrast between them. His rough, tan, and blemished skin holding her silken, ivory, hand in his. The reveled in how soft and smooth she felt, he hoped his roughness wasn't innervating to her. He wanted to savior the moment of holding her hand, but all Trey saw were the difference. Summer… she didn't know if she'd ever be able to explain any of it to herself. Why she'd asked him to take the walk, why she'd followed him into the ocean, but most of all why when he touched her did her whole world seem to light on fire.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"How are we gonna get inside?" Trey asked he and Summer sneaked up to the back porch.

"Shh, I didn't lock the sliding glass door" Summer giggled, "And they're probably still asleep so we should be able to just sneak in no problem."

"Or not," Marissa's voice rang out to both of them. She stood on the back porch with her arms fold across her chest. Trey and Summer looked like high school children caught sneaking in after curfew. "Ryan and I got up this morning to find both of you gone… You guys are soaked, what happened?"

Summer broke out into a giggle and pointed at Trey, "Trey threw me into the ocean…. Well first he ran into the ocean like a crazy man, then he threw me into the ocean."

"Guilty as charged… but she wasn't complaining then."

"Who said I was complaining now?" She playfully slapped him in the chest.

Marissa quizzically raised an eyebrow at the two of them, she started to smile about the situation, but instead felt a disapproving look cross her face. "Ryan could you bring me a couple of towels from the bathroom…" She called back into the house.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea, I need a shower." Trey smiled and shook some of the ocean water from his hair.

"Here babe," Ryan came from the back door, and quickly noticed his brother and Summer, "What the hell happened to you two?"

Trey laughed and took a towel from Marissa, "Long story bro, I'm gonna go take a shower but I was thinking maybe we could go look at a few places today… I mean I'm sure you're sick of having your big brother sacked out of your couch…"

"Yeah man that sounds great." Ryan smiled almost excited about the chance to spent time with his brother.

"Cool, well I'm gonna go grab a shower, get ready and we can start the day." Waved back to all of them, but for some reason his hand motioned in the direction of Summer, before he made his way into the apartment.

Ryan's eyes followed Trey into the house, then moved back to Summer, who by this point had wrapped herself up in the other towel. "Ok so you wanna tell me why you and Trey are both soaking wet?"

Marissa held a finger up to Summer, then answered the question for her, "He threw her in the ocean."

"Oh… okay…" He paused and thought about it for a moment, "No wait not okay, what!" Confusion infiltrated his voice.

"Exactly what I said, he threw her in the ocean…" She turned away from Ryan and back to Summer. "Sweetie could you go inside for a bit… I think Summer and I need to talk for a while."

"Sure but I still don't get the whole part about Trey throwing you into the ocean." Still confused he opened the sliding glass door and walked back inside. Apparently he was going to have to ask Trey.

Marissa gave wait until the sliding glass door had completely closed, "So you gonna tell me what's going on?"

Summer sat down in one of their deck chairs and shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I get for water at four this morning, and Trey's not on the sofa… So I glance out the window to see if you're home, and if Trey was here went you got home, since I know you didn't get until after I went to bed…. But when I go check your room, there's no Summer here either… So I'll ask again," she smiled a little bit this time, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, we're friends, at least I think we are. I mean Trey's not so bad once you give him a chance, and that's all he really wants is a chance to be a new person.. So I'm just trying to give him a chance…"

Marissa raised her eyebrows at the way Summer spoke, "Are you sure that's all it is?"

Summer knew Marissa knew her better than anyone else, and she was seeing deeper into Summer's words and actions. Quickly she buried her head into the towel and sighed, "I don't know Coop. I don't know if that's all it is. I mean Trey's different from anyone I've ever met. I mean when he talks he really is just a man who wants to take advantage of his new lease on life. He's a man who wants to truly live, and when I'm around him he makes me want to live. He shows me things that I've always looked at but never seen. I've never seen anyone treat the world the way he does…"

"Summer you've known him, what four days now?"

"It doesn't matter, I know him, he's opened up to me at least a little bit he has. I can't remember ever feeling the way I do when I'm with Trey."

Marissa sighed and let her eyes fall, "Okay but what about Seth?"

Summer took a deep breath, held it for a moment and slowly exhaled, "I love Cohen, I do, but… I don't know Coop… I mean you have to admit there's something about those Atwood boys."

Marissa laughed along with her, "Yeah I guess there is."

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"So what do you think?" Ryan casually asked Trey as they stood in the middle of the studio apartment.

"It's not much but I love it, then again anything is a step up from where I've been staying." Trey stopped and sighed, "Unfortunately I don't quite have the money to cover the rent and the deposit."

"You may not but I do."

"I don't want your money little brother, I told you I'm not here for a hand-out from you."

"It's not a hand-out, it's helping out. It's the least I can do…" Ryan paused and ran his hands through his hair. "I spend so many years angry at you for what happened. But I was more than capable of making my own decisions and I should have been angry with myself, you didn't put me in juvie. I put myself there because I could have told you no. See now when I think about, we've all got some kind of plan, some kind of destiny… If I hadn't landed in juvie I would have never met Joey, would have never learned to box, wouldn't have landed in the hospital so I could meet Marissa… A lot of things would have been different if I had told you no… I mean maybe when I finally said yes; maybe I would have landed in prison next to you… It wasn't your fault, I spent so much time being angry and blaming you, I held it so close to my chest. That's why I never came to visit, that's why I never answered letters or gave you a number to call… I was angry at you when I should have been angry at myself."

Trey put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, "I wasn't exactly the kinda big brother you could look up too. I kinda sucked at that job."

"Yeah but a lot of people don't get the kinda second chances we get…"

"Yeah I guess Atwoods are like cats we got nine lives…" Trey gave a small laugh at his own joke.

"Yeah, you're kinda right… So let's start the new one, let me help you out…" Ryan cut his eyes to the side to meet his brother's.

Trey sighed and held his hand out, "I'm gonna pay it all back."

The two men smiled and nodded at each other, they were turning over a new leaf, and making amends. They were older, wiser, and had the chance that most men of their pasts and backgrounds don't get.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Would you believe that I'm over half way done with this story. There's only about five chapters left, give or take a chapter in either direction. When I started this story I knew I wanted to do a Seth/Summer/Trey triangle. And originally I planned on there being more RyRissa in it, as well, but the scene in this chapter may be the most of them alone as a couple that we see. However I ran into two problems, problem one is that Seth is really hard to write and I can write him I just have to be in the mood for it and I can't force it out, and I haven't found myself in the mood to write Seth. Secondly when I started writing Summer and Trey together I just kind wrote with the characters and let them write themselves, and now they've really grown on me as a couple… So I actually don't know how everything is going to turn out as far as whose going to end up together anymore…

Chapter Seven

"Damn it Cohen, answer your phone," Summer sighed into her cell phone as she listened to Seth's phone ring on the other line. Ever since he'd left for his internship in San Diego, he'd been nearly impossible to get a hold of, and she barely saw him at all. Maybe that was why she'd found herself clinging to Trey so much in the past few days, but then again Trey was just her friend, right. At least that's what she kept telling herself, but if Trey was just her friend, then why was she thinking about him as she waited for Seth to answer his phone.

"Hey you," Seth's voice finally.

Summer felt her muscles relax at his greeting and a smile immediately crossed her face. "Hey Cohen," she greeted him back her voice smiling the entire time.

"What's up honey?"

"Well I'm on my way to drop a few things off at the country club, and I thought I call to see what time you're gonna be here…"

"What time I'm gonna be there?" Seth raised an eyebrow at her question and let panic slip into his voice.

"Yeah for the charity fashion show that I did half the designs for and you're taking me too."

"That's today…" Seth's voice dropped a bit.

"You forgot…" Just like Cohen, Summer thought to herself, too involved in himself to remember that she too had things going on.

"Yeah I kinda did…"

"Well that's fine, just grab a suit and come on, if you leave San Diego now we'll have plenty to get ready when you get here."

"Well see the thing is…"

"No, stop there you have to come I mean I can't go without a date, and you're my boyfriend and…"

"Well I kinda have a thing myself… well not really a thing… it's a deadline for a new…"

"Cohen…" Hurt and annoyance rang for her voice.

"What… it's my job… Besides it's not like I'm going to miss anything I've been to a ton of Newport charity parties and they're all the same, a bunch of people getting drunk and pretending they actually care about the charity."

"Only you've never been to one where my designs are going to be featured."

Seth sighed, he knew he was fighting a losing battle, "Look, Sum I'm sorry… this internship is really important to me."

"Funny I thought I was really important to you…"

"You are it's just…"

"Whatever Cohen, I don't need to have a rage blackout while driving, so I'll talk to you later." Harshly she snapped her cell phone closed. Summer too a few deep breaths as she pulled her car over to the side of the road. "No, damn it, I am not going to cry," she fanned her eyes out and she tried to calm her breathing. "I will not let Seth Cohen the self obsessed, comic book nerd make me cry. If his little internship is more important that's fine, he won't take me I'll find someone who will."

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"Hello," An exhausted Ryan answered his phone.

"Hey, so I just talked to Summer, and she's pissed but she totally bought it. So I'm gonna get there at like nine. I need you guys to make sure that she doesn't try to not go, cause that would suck and totally ruin my plan," Seth frantically told Ryan as he shuffled through the pool house closet looking for something really nice to wear.

Ryan fumbled around trying to get his key into the front door, wiggling the locked as he pushed the key in, "Yeah well I don't think Summer's going to let anyone, even you ruin her fashion show. But we'll do our best to make sure she's there. Until then, I'm gonna take a nap, I'm tired," With a weak smile and a humble wave he greeted Marissa who was stretched out on the sofa.

"Long workout today?" Seth asked as he continued digging in the closet holding up shirt after shirt.

"No, I spent all day helping Trey moving into his apartment."

"Oh cool, so I guess he's doing okay and all."

"Yeah he is."

"Good, well hopefully I'll get a chance to get to know him better. I mean he's your brother and all. And he seems like he's really trying to turn things around."

"He is." With the phone still to his ear Ryan collapsed onto the couch, flopping his head into Marissa's lap.

"Ok man, well I'll let you get you nap, and I'll see you tonight."

"Alright see you then." Ryan snapped his phone closed and let his arm hang lazily off the couch. "Do we have to go tonight?" He looked up with pleading eyes to Marissa.

"If Summer's designs weren't in it, I'd be all for staying home," she reached down and gently stroked his hair. She watched as Ryan's eyes started to drift closed, and quietly smiled to herself. "I love moments like this," she whispered as she watched Ryan sleep. "Just being here with you, after everything… Just having you here… I thought I'd say this but I need you with me. Before I met you… I felt like love was this secret thing that everyone else knew about and was keeping from me, then I met you…" She leaned down and let her lips barely brush his forehead. "Promise you'll never leave…"

"I'll promise if you promise," Ryan's eyes slipped half open as he mumbled the words to her.

"You were sleeping you weren't suppose to hear any of that."

"What good does it do to ask me to promise something if you think I'm sleeping?"

Marissa shyly shrugged, he still made her feel like a school girl with a crush sometimes, "You were sleeping you weren't suppose to be listening, those were private thoughts, ones I tell you when I know you can't hear them."

Ryan reach up and rested his hand against her cheek, his eyes opened fully and softly his blue eyes met hers. Sometimes when he looked into her eyes, they looked so much like his own that he felt like they were cut from the same piece of material, like as cheesy as it sounded, like they were made for each other. His fingers grazed up and down her cheek, "You shouldn't have to wait until I'm not listening to tell me you're private thoughts, especially when I feel the same way." He leaned up and gently kissed her.

After breaking away, Marissa flattened herself on top of him, and rested her head on his chest, "I love you," she purred into his neck.

"I love you," he muttered back, letting himself drift into a peace rest that would prepare him for what would turn out to be one hell of a night.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"One second," Trey called out to the knock on his new front door. He smiled to himself at the thought of having his first visitor, even though he knew it was either Ryan or the landlord. What he didn't know was that one the other side of his door Summer patiently waited, her hands hidden behind her back.

"Hey," Trey jumped back a bit shocked to find her standing in his doorway.

"Hey you," Summer politely smiled and slightly craned her neck. "Nice place," she let her smile widen a bit.

"Yeah it's not much, but… it's mine." He smiled just a bit.

Summer felt her knees sink a bit at his smile and without notice her pulse quickened. "So I have to get straight to the point here…."

"Okay," he raised an eyebrow at her a bit his green eyes twinkling some. "That obviously means you're here on some kind of business."

"No not really business, more like a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Well… Now that you're officially a Newport resident, how would you actually like to see what Newport is really like," purposely discreet with her request, hoping he'd say yes before questioning her too much.

"What do you mean, what Newport is really like?" Trey asked naturally suspicious.

Summer sighed and began to speak faster than she normally would; "So there's this party, well actually it's a charity fashion show, which is code for Newport party. But I designed some of the clothes they're going to auction off tonight. So I have to go and I can't go without a date and since Cohen totally ditched me for work, I was thinking who could possibly be free on this short of notice, and only won person came to mind…. You."

Trey took a deep breath and twisted his face around a bit, "You know…"

"You have to say yes," she tried not to sound too desperate. "If you don't say yes, I have to go without a date and that would suck and I would probably cry and you don't want me to cry do you?" She grinned and batted her yes at him.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea, Summer… I mean it's like high society and shit right, and I'm not exactly high society material."

"Well, then you'll just have to stick to my side, besides Ryan and Marissa will be there so you at least know a few people… Mostly you'll just be my trophy date, you the hot guy on my arm that makes everyone else jealous. Please Trey…" She gave up on not pleading and went straight to begging, "You have to do this for me, as my friend, please, I'm begging."

Friend, she got him right there. He hadn't realized that she was coming to him as a friend, it had been so long since he'd had a friend he didn't even notice one right in front of him. "I don't have anything to wear…" He was giving in.

Summer lifted her hands for behind her back to reveal a suit bag, "I knew you'd say that, so I took care of it. I kinda guess at your size, but I'm a designer so I'm good at that and if it doesn't fit, I'm also good at making things fit."

Trey sighed, she had thought of everything, "What time do I need to be ready?"

Summer smiled, she'd won, he'd given in, not that there was ever any real doubt in her mind that he wouldn't give in to her charms, or desperate pleas which ever worked best. "I'll be here to get you at seven, I have to go get ready now." She handed him the bag and turned to leave with him still standing in the doorframe. As Summer started down the stairs to her car she stopped and turned around to see him leaning and watching her. "Oh and Trey." She watched as he raised his eyebrows in response to her. Carefully she walked back up the stairs to him, "Thanks," she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and in an instant disappeared.

Once the taillights of her car were all he could see in the distant Trey lifted his hand to his cheek, he knew it was a girlie motion, but the way her lips felt. It was just another contrast between. They were so light and airy. She could have asked him to jump over the moon and there was no way he'd have ever been able to tell her no.

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"How do I look?" Trey asked as he answered the door.

Summer looked him up and down, very proud of herself. She knew what she'd picked out would look good on him. She had shied away from the traditional white shirt and black tie, for a more modern black shirt, white tie look, except that his tie hung loosely around his neck. Summer hadn't thought about the fact that he might not know how to tie a tie. He had the jacket slung over his shoulder so she could get a better look. The contours of the suit fit him perfectly baggy in the right spots and fitted where it should be. Summer's breath got caught in her throat, she hadn't expect him to look quite as good as he did. "Great, except for one thing…" She gave a slight grimace.

"It's the tie, I know I'm sorry I just… I never really wore suit before I went to prison." He nervously clasps at his throat.

"Well that too, but that's not what I meant."

"Okay what did you mean?"

"See…" she gave him a tight smile bearing her teeth at him, casual she poked up finger in and out of her fist trying not to draw too much attention. "We have got to do something with that hair," finally she let it out in a laugh.

"What's wrong with it?" Trey all of a sudden self-conscious reached up and ran his hand through his hair.

"Nothing if you want to look like you just rolled out of bed, I mean I'm all for the messy look, but there's the messy look and then there's the just didn't do anything with my hair look, come on," she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the apartment, straight into the bathroom. "Where's your gel?"

Trey turned around and fumbled through a box of toiletries. "Sorry I haven't had time to really unpack much… Not that I've got a whole lot." He told her as he turned back to present her with a bottle of gel.

"Crouch down," she instructed, but then noticed he was about to let his knees hit the floor. "No, no, don't touch the ground you'll get your suit dirty, just crouch down a bit so I can get to your hair."

Trey bent at the knees and tried to hold the rather painful position; "This is not comfort."

"Oh you'll live." Summer squirted a small amount of gel into her hands and rubbed them together, "Now just stay still for a minute."

Briefly he nodded and tried to remain as still as possible. As he crouched down he felt her hands go into his hair. Trey tried to ignore the feelings that gave him, they way his scalp tense up sending chills down his back. The way his skin quivered as she continued to adjust small chunks of hair. Summer tried to focus on fixing his hair only to find her eyes falling on his face. There was a small smile slipping from his lips, his eyes were closed. He looked content, relaxed, much like he had that night on the beach. So caught up in his face, it took her a moment to notice that she had stopped fixing his hair and her hands were just buried in his hair. "There all fixed up," she spoke slowly as she sharply drew her hands away.

"Thanks." He responded. It was at that moment that his eyes opened to find her staring at him. Together they locked eyes, her brown against his green. Trey saw her lick her dry lips. Summer saw him take a hard swallow. Their faces only inches apart, with neither of them able to comprehend the air between them.

"We should get going," she snapped away and broke the moment. "Otherwise we're gonna be late."

Trey wasn't sure if he was weak in the knees from the crouching or from what had just happened but it took him a moment to stand and follow her. "Yeah," as he grabbed the jacket and followed her out of the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Have I ever mentioned how much more interesting these things were when I was drinking?" Marissa sighed and looked around bored.

"I'm right there with you," Kirsten Cohen laughed with Marissa.

"Yeah well I do drink and they're still not interesting." Sandy held up his glass and quickly finished it off.

"Amen, Mr. Cohen," Ryan tipped his own glass towards him.

"So where is Summer, I figured she'd be riding with you guys," Kirsten casually asked.

"I have no idea, she said she had something to take care of and that she would meet us her, I seriously doubt she'd miss here own fashion show." Marissa gave a shrug with her answer.

"I think I just spotted her," Sandy pointed over to the walkway of the country club. "And her date," his voice dropped a little bit, as he pointed to the man walking next to Summer.

With the word 'date' Marissa, Ryan and Kirsten's head all snapped over in the direction Sandy had pointed. "Is that…" Marissa stopped mid sentence and looked to Ryan.

"Trey." He answered a mix of shock, fear, and utter disbelief resonated in his voice.

"Trey? You guys know him?" Kirsten didn't try to hide the concern in her voice.

"That's my brother."

"Your brother, but I thought he was…"

Ryan quickly cut Sandy off, "He was, he got out."

"And is now at a Newport party with…. Summer…." Marissa looked to Ryan, both of them looking to each other for answers.

"Oh this is not going to be good," Sandy grabbed a drink off the passing cart and quickly downed it.

"Okay," Marissa grabbed Ryan by the sleeve and started pulling him in the direction of Summer and Trey. "You keep Trey away from… Well anyone who might ask questions, while I pull Summer into the bathroom and find out what's going on."

"Yeah that's probably a good idea," he nodded and tried to put on his best face as they approached Summer and Trey.

"Hey guys," Summer broadly smiled as she greeted Marissa and Ryan. "Have you guys met my date," she motioned for them to look Trey up and down, "He's cleans up nice doesn't he." She gave Trey a playful elbow to the stomach.

"Yeah he does. You look good Trey. Would you mind if I stole her away from you for a moment, I need to go to the bathroom." Marissa grabbed at Summer's arm.

"Be my guest," but by the time the words left Trey's mouth Marissa had already tugged Summer away. "So," Trey uncomfortable shifted his tie, and shrugged to his brother. "They have a lot of these type of things here?"

"At least once a month… What are you doing man?" He dropped his voice and tried not to sound too harsh with his older brother.

"She showed up at my place, she needed a date… I told her no but… She begged man. I know what it looks like, the other day when we came in soaked, and now me showing up with her here… Nothing's going on man I promise, we're just friends." Trey licked his dry lips and prayed his brother believed him.

Ryan raised his eyebrows, he could tell by the look in Trey's eyes that while he was telling the truth there was still something below the surface, something Trey was trying to push back. "Just watch what you get yourself into man… Summer…. She can be a handful."

"I already learned that." Trey slapped his brother on the back and laughed.

"Shit, Julie Cooper alert ten o'clock." Ryan rolled his eyes and gave a harsh sigh.

"Who?"

"It's Marissa's mom, just…" He sighed again, "Just brace yourself."

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"Okay so you're here with Trey, you wanna explain?" Marissa leaned against the bathroom sink and watched as Summer fixed her hair. "I thought you said nothing was going on."

"Nothing is going, Cohen's an ass and he left me dateless at the last minute, so I asked Trey to come. It is that simple."

"Summer look at me," Marissa demanded, as she grabbed Summer by the face squishing her lips together.

"Ew, Coop you're gonna mess up my make up."

"Tell me again there's nothing going on with you and Trey." Marissa watched as she spoke, as soon as she finished her question Summer's eyes shifted away from her. "Your eyes just shifted, there is something going on with you two."

"No, there's not… exactly. I mean nothing's happened, but… I don't know the way he makes me feel. Sometimes when he looks at me it's like I'm the only woman in the world he sees. Cohen's never made me feel that way, I mean Cohen's so goofy and I know he loves me and he makes me laugh and he makes me feel good all over. And I meet Trey and he's the total opposite he's intense and when I think about him looking at me I get quivers all over… I don't know, I think this whole thing with Trey is just because he's so different from anyone I've ever dated. But we're just friends, and we're just here as friends."

"Please be careful Sum, you're a big girl and you can make your own choices, but just be careful."

"Come on Coop, we'd better get back out there, you know Ryan doesn't handle these things well and I don't want Trey to think I deserted him."

As soon as they walked out of the bathroom and back outside to the courtyard, Marissa clasp her hand over her mouth, "Shit," she pointed to where Ryan and Trey stood.

Summer looked over to see the flaming hair of Julie Cooper standing with her back to them, and Ryan and Trey looking towards them obviously grimacing. "Come on Coop, hurry up," she grabbed Marissa's hand and walked faster.

"Hi, mom," Marissa coldly greeted her mother and stepped in beside Ryan taking his hand.

"Hi honey, Ryan and I were just catching up while you were in the bathroom… Summer, hi." Julie gave her a smug smile.

"Hi, Mrs. Cooper," Summer brushed past her and stood close by Trey. She took a deep breath as she saw the look in Julie Cooper's eyes, how could one woman be so judgmental and practically evil.

"So it seems you've taken a hint from my lovely daughter here. Now Summer honey, I never thought Seth Cohen was your type, but I thought you at least had some standards. Not that Marissa's are all that much better, I mean she is with Ryan who punches people for a living which is quite barbaric. But he's not a convicted felon, who just got out of prison. I mean honey, what would your father think?"

Summer took Trey's hand and gave it a slight squeeze, Julie Cooper's words did nothing but irratate her. "I think my daddy stopped meddling in my business years ago, so maybe you should take the hint. Come on Trey…" She gave his hand a slight tug, then turned to Marissa and Ryan, "We're going for a walk."

"That was real sweet mom. You might not agree with who I date and what I'm doing with my life, but I'm your daughter and I can take it. And Ryan's used to it by now. But Summer is not your child and you have no right to berate her like that."

Ryan tried to hide his smile as he watched Marissa's eyes on fire as she and her mother went at it. A part of him always laughed when they did this, he'd never say it to Marissa but sometimes he could see so much of Julie in her it was scary. Not that he wanted to see a lot of Julie in her, but what can you do sometimes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and you have to take a bite out of it before you realize that.

"Alright enough you two," he stepped between Julie and Marissa. "You guys can finish this later, Marissa let's go find your dad… He likes me." Ryan gave Julie and smug grin. Julie shot him a matching look back. Your not suppose to like your mother in law anyway, Ryan told himself. Granted Julie Cooper wasn't his mother in law, but she would be someday.

"Hey," Ryan felt a frantic hand grab his shoulder.

He turned around quickly to see Seth standing behind him, "Where's Summer, you made sure she came right?"

Ryan looked to Marissa, who had a confused and apologetic smile on her face, "Yeah man, she came."

"Okay well where is she, I've got my nerve right now, and I don't know how much longer that's going to be there."

"Actually…" Marissa bit her lip; "She brought a date Seth."

Seth felt his entire face drop, and his stomach sink to his knees, "A date… like who?"

"Trey," Ryan gave the single word answer and then quickly averted his eyes.

"Oh, your brother," his face lit back up and he felt his stomach and heart go back into place. "No big deal, I mean it's your brother… Where are they?"

Ryan and Marissa looked to each other again; nothing was going on with Summer and Trey right. That's what they had both said, so things shouldn't be so bad, and Summer was going to be totally shocked and floored with Seth anyway. Marissa shrugged to Ryan who shrugged back.

"Well they had a run in with my mother, she kinda insulted Trey, and then went on to insult Summer, and you know how my mom can be…. But I don't think Trey handled it too well, so they went for a walk."

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As soon as they hit the beach Trey loosened his tie, since he'd put it on he'd felt like it was choking him. Quietly he and Summer walked along the beach in their formal wear. He imagined that this was what it would have felt like to come to the beach after prom. Trey didn't know for sure though, he never went to his prom; hell he'd barely gone to high school.

"Sorry about that back there, I didn't think about anyone treating you that way when I asked you to come. I guess I'm so used to coming to these thing with Cohen that I forget people can be real shitty around here… Then again people are real shitty to Cohen sometimes so I probably should have thought about it. I never should have subjected you to this, I should have driven to San Diego and kicked Cohen's ass and made him take me. I mean that's what a boyfriend is for, God you'd think after so long together he wouldn't be so self involved, I mean he tried to hard to impress me for so long and…" Summer realized she was rambling as they walked. "Sorry now I sound like Cohen… I really am sorry about how Julie treated you."

"Not your fault. I mean I don't exactly fit in with that kind of crowd, and there's always going to be someone who's going to point that out. I guess I should learn my lesson that I'm not Newport material."

"Not everyone in Newport is like that, I mean," she stopped and stepped in front of him so he could look at her. "I'm not like that."

"No you're not, neither is Marissa. I just gotta learn how to deal with people like that, I mean there's going to be a lot of Julie Cooper's to come in my life. A lot of people who are going to pass judgement on me because of my past. I'll just have to push through them and make my own way."

Summer smiled, "That's the attitude to take, don't let the Julie Cooper's of the world get you down. I mean you can do anything now, I mean you've got a chance and no one can take that away from you… Have you ever thought about what you want to do now that you can do anything?"

Trey cocked his head to the side and twisted his lips down in a goofy way, "Not really. I mean I haven't had much time, everything has been so whirlwind, my head is constantly spinning."

"Well what do you like? I mean you should try to do something you like, you know Ryan likes punching people so he boxes, I like fashion so I design, Seth likes comics so he…" She stopped herself before she went on a Seth Cohen rant. "SO what do you like?"

"I never really thought about what I like, I mean I don't think I even know anymore, I've been out of the world for so long…" He paused to think about it for a second. "I always liked cars," he laughed.

"Yeah I bet you did."

"No really, I took some auto repair courses in jail. But who's gonna let a guy convicted of stealing cars work on'em."

Summer took his hand and pulled him in front of her, "Someone will… Some one will give you a chance Trey; you just have to believe in yourself. The way other people do."

"Like who?"

"Ryan, he believes in you…" She paused, she hadn't felt herself getting closer to him, but she could feel the energy between them. "And me, I believe in you."

"Really?" He whispered back.

His breath fell on her face, she hadn't realized they were standing that close until she felt it. Hot and sticky like the air. Why was beyond her, everything was so intense that for the moment she forgot who she was, or who he was. All that matter was the moment, "Yeah, really." Summer's voice was barely audible but she followed her words in and softly put her lips to his feeling the bit of stubble as it brushed against her.

Trey felt his heart jump at the feeling of her lips on his, and for the slightest instant he lost himself. He wanted to lose himself longer in her, but his body was willing, but his mind and his heart were at war with the right and wrong. Stopping himself he gently pulling away from her. "Summer stop," he told her.

At that moment their lost focus came back in reality. Summer brought her hand to her lips shocked at what she had just done, but even more shocked at the way it made her feel. "Why," she whispered unsure of where the words were even coming from.

"Look…" Trey sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I like you, I really do, and I've loved getting to know you and that you've given me a chance. But… You've got a boyfriend, who just happens to be my little brother's best friend, and the only reason you're kissing me is because you miss him. I would give anything in the world to have a girl like you, but I don't want it to be because she misses another guy… And honestly," he sighed and prepared himself for his first lie to her, "I don't want it to be you, I love that you believe in me and that you get me, and I love our friendship and I don't want to do anything in the world to change that. So let's go back to the party," he leaned his head forward and gave her a wide smile, "As friends like we are, and pretend that never happened." He wiggled his head to the side trying to make light of the whole situation and pray that she didn't notice how deeply he was lying to her.

"Yeah," Summer nodded her head to him, her hand still on her lips. "You're right… friends." She pulled her hand away and gave him a pressed smile; "We should get back." This time she didn't take his hand as they walked, but there was an understanding between them that what happened didn't actually happen. The only problem was that the damage was already done.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"So when's the next fight Ryan?" Jimmy Cooper smiled as he slapped his daughter long time boyfriend on the back.

"Don't know. No time soon I hope, I'm not really in fighting shape right now." Ryan joked to Jimmy.

"Oh dad don't let him lie to you, he's still up every morning by five running, and still does a thousand crunches every night before we go to bed, even though he only fights maybe twice a year now."

"Yeah well I have to keep my workaholic nature somehow babe." Ryan laughed. The three of them were so caught up in their own conversation that Ryan was completely caught off guard.

"What the hell?" Jimmy called out.

"Ryan!" Marissa's voice followed behind.

One moment Ryan was laughing with Jimmy, the next he felt a hard fist collide with his jaw. His head flew to the side, throwing his whole body off balance as spit flew from his mouth. Ryan was so blindsided that rather than take a defensive stance, he jerked up and grabbed his jaw before flinging around to see who punched him. He stood to find an enraged Seth.

"Keep your fucking ex-con brother away from my girlfriend!" Seth spit out in blind emotion. He moved forward to kick at Ryan, only to have Sandy grab him and pull him back.

"I don't know what your problem is son but this is not the place."

"Get him out of here Sandy," Ryan point with his free hand, the other still grasping his jaw, as he spit out a bit of blood.

"Here Ryan," Kirsten pulled out a chair. "I'll go get you some ice."

"Are you okay?" Marissa crouched down to Ryan's level

"Yeah, I'm fine I've taken much worse hits than that one."

"Yeah but the other guy's usually wearing gloves."

"Trust me honey, the gloves don't provide that much padding." Ryan tried to joke through his winces of pain.

"Here's some ice," Kirsten handed him a towel full of crushed ice.

"Thanks," Ryan took the towel and held it too his jaw.

"What was that about?" Kirsten's eyes full of concern.

Ryan shrugged, he had no clue except that it had something to do with Summer and Trey. "Honestly other than him screaming for me to keep my brother away from his girlfriend, I have no clue."

As Summer and Trey made their way back up to party, they saw the commotion and a crowd around one of the table. "I wonder what's going on." Summer quizzically remarked.

"Don't tell me we miss all the action," Trey started jogging towards the party.

"Oh my God Ryan! What happened?" Summer stood shocked to see Ryan sitting in a chair with a bloodied ice filled towel to his mouth.

Marissa cut her eyes at Summer trying to tell her this wasn't a good time, only to have Ryan put his hand on her shoulder calming her. Ryan pulled the towel away from his mouth and spit before addressing them, "Seth punched me."

"Cohen? What was he doing here…" Summer felt herself take a few steps back. "And what do you mean he punched you?"

"Exactly what I said, Seth punched, a sucker punch nonetheless but still a punch…" Ryan pursed his lips together and cut his eyes from Summer to Trey, then back to Summer. "I don't know what happened, and I'm not sure I want to know what happened… But whatever it was Seth saw, and punched me for it."

Trey threw his head back then, dropped it back forward rubbing his eyes. He rested his fingers on the bridge on his nose. Fuck, he thought to himself. He was reinforced that his life had been a series of bad decisions that had done nothing but hurt his brother.

"What…" Summer whispered her voice foreign to herself. "I… have to go talk to him… Coop can you guys…" She looked to Trey apologetically.

"Go, don't worry about me," Trey told her.

She didn't wait for a response for Marissa or Ryan, she took off as fast as she could, completely unsure about what was about to happen.

"Ry I'm sorry are you okay?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah I've taken worse punches, it wouldn't have hurt so bad if I'd see it coming." He tried to smile and turned to Marissa, "Are you ready to go? We gotta take Trey back to his place."

"Yeah, I'll go get the car." She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before grabbing her purse and walking away.

"Look Ry, I'm…"

A hand went up to cut Trey off, "Don't man, this time I'm not the one you owe the apology too."

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"I told you dad no I don't want to talk about it and yes I'm fine just leave me alone!" Seth called back to the knock on the pool house door. After his words rang through the air, the knock came again, only this time softer. Seth harshly raised his body off the bed, and flung the door open to find Summer standing before him. "What are you doing here." Emotionless he greeted her before turning his back and walking back to the bed.

"Can I come in?" She watched as Seth lay back on the bed and shrugged at her.

"Do whatever you want, I obviously don't matter."

"Cohen don't…" she whispered as she walked cautiously into the room.

"Don't what… Finish your sentence I mean you're here, I might as well listen to whatever excuse, or story or whatever you're about to give me."

"Cohen it's not what you think, Trey and I are just friends, I know you don't believe that but we are."

"Friends! Friends! That's the best you can come up with because you sure as fuck didn't look like 'just friends' when you were kissing him." Seth stood from the bed and threw his fists into the air.

"I don't know why I kissed him… I missed you and he's been there since you left and…"

"I've been gone a week! A fucking week Summer, and you're already out looking for someone to fill your loneliness! And a fucking ex-con at that! Fuck Summer next time you're lonely how about you just fucking call me alright… Or better yet don't call me anymore. Just be happy with your convict, let's see what kind of future you get out of that." His voice got louder with each sentence he finished. Seth could feel the red in his face.

"The only reason I was there with Trey, is because your fucking job was more important than me," she felt herself getting angry at Seth's inability to reason.

"Yeah, it was!"

Seth reached over to the bedside table. Summer ducked as she saw his arm reach back, the object he grabbed crashed into the wall and made several loud clunks as it hit the wall and bounced to the floor flooring a few feet away from her.

"If only you knew," Seth spit out as Summer bent down to retrieve the object. "Go ahead, pick it up, open it. It obviously doesn't mea anything to you." His anger welling up and turning into to hurt.

Summer slowly stood up, holding the box in her hands. As soon as she got a good look at it she knew what it was. But unable to bring herself to open it, she turned pained eyes to Seth, "Cohen is this…"

"Yeah it was, I was going to surprise you, and if you don't' believe that ask Ryan I've had it planned out for weeks."

"Cohen," tears fell from her eyes as she walked a few steps closer to him.

"Don't," he put his arm out and stepped away from her. "Put it down, and get the fuck out. I don't want to fucking look at you anymore… You've never known what you wanted for as long as I've known you, for as long as listened to you talk and dream… You've never known what you wanted… And I was a fool to ever think I'd be enough for you… So just put my box on the table and get the fuck out, this has been painful enough and… Right now, I'm numb even to you." Seth turned his back to her, she was crying he could hear it but his words had been sincere he didn't feel anything for her at that moment, his whole world had gone numb.

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Trey didn't know if he'd ever get used to having a door that people could actually knock on, instead of a barred cell. However he knew he'd never get used to have people knock on his door at one in the morning. The knock was frantic, it reminded him of the kind of knock police officers used right before they busted your door down. A part of him panicked, but he also knew he had done nothing to have the police show up at his door.

"Summer," Trey hid himself behind the door, he hadn't expected it to be her or he would have put a shirt on. She had been crying, her make up had run down her face, and her dress was rumpled. "Are you okay?" His sleepy eyes widen.

Summer shook her head, but no words came from her mouth, only soft sobs. Without warning she reached out and grabbed him by the face pulling him down to her, forcing him to kiss her. He could taste the saline of her tears, but he could also taste the bitterness of pain as she pressed him harder into the kiss. Trey put his hands on her shoulders and forced her away from him.

"Summer, wait," He tried to catch his breath to speak.

"No," she shook her head at him and pressed into him again. as she kicked the door closed behind her and this time Trey didn't try to fight her.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

_I'm my most romantic in the morning_

_When I wipe the sleep from my eyes_

_And I see lying naked_

_Your face formed in a smile_

Trey felt her shift next to him, his looked over at his bedside clock. It was close to four in the morning, he'd fallen asleep earlier but it had only been for a few minutes. Inside his chest his heart felt like it was going to beat right out. Everything that had happened in the past few days ran through his mind. None of it made sense. When he came to Newport he wasn't looking for what had happened. He hadn't come to cause trouble, he hadn't come to find a girl, he hadn't expected to meet someone like her. All he'd wanted was a chance to get to know the brother he'd never bothered to pay any attention to. Gently he ran his fingers through her hair careful not to wake him. Her skin looked so smooth, her remembered how it felt against his. Like silk against sandpaper. All he wanted to do was live in that moment and pretend the rest of the world didn't exist Even though he knew that would never happen, eventually light would bleed into the room and they'd have to face the reality of what had happened. He would have to accept that she came to him only for comfort, not because her feelings for him were real. But right then, he didn't want to, and as long as it was still dark and quiet in the room he didn't have to. Carefully he reached over and pressed a soft kiss on to her temple. The softly was sweet and airy as not to wake her. With a soft sigh, he cleared his mind of any thoughts that weren't of her and were of the moment and let himself drift into sleep.

_I'm my most confused in the morning_

When I wipe the tears from my eyes 

_And I see you sneaking softly_

_Not waiting for goodbye_

Quietly she gathered her dress and her shoes, the last thing she wanted to do was wake him, he looked so content. Slowly she zipped the back of her dress as silently as possible. Once dressed Summer stood and took a long look at him, his brown hair matted to his head, a bit of stubble had grown in overnight. His breathing was so gentle that it was almost as if he wasn't breathing at all. She swallowed thickly and wiped a few tears from her eyes, unsure of why she was crying. Was it what she'd done with him and its repercussion with Seth, was it that she actually had wanted to be with him the night before? Honestly she didn't have any clue, she'd never felt so torn or confused in her whole life. She wanted to stay with Trey, to curl up against him and feel his warm, feel how gentle he could be despite the roughness of his exterior. She wanted to go find Seth, hug him and hold him, and tell him how sorry she was and how much she loved him. She wanted to go lay her head in Marissa's lap and just cry for hours without ever having to explain anything. Summer Roberts didn't have a clue what she wanted, the only thing she was completely certain of was that she couldn't stay, she needed to go home, right then it was the only place she knew she'd feel safe.

He was awake, she just didn't know it, and he could hear her shuffling around and was doing his breath not to hold his breath in his chest and let her know he was awake. As he heard the door open he took a soft sigh, and when he heard the front door gently close he let his eyes slip open just soon enough to catch a small glance of her slipping out of his apartment. Trey tossed his head back onto his pillow, where she had been laying her head only moments ago. He inhaled her scent, then threw back onto his own pillow, pulling his arms back behind his head. A sharp pain began to well up in his chest like no pain he'd ever felt before. Immediately he knew that no material possession, or drug, or even other girl would be able to ease it. It was the first time he'd ever felt heartache.

_Was it a play you'd been rehearsing_

_Have I been drawn on in_

_Is this some game you've made for me_

Is it one that I can win? 

Ryan would never tell her to save his own life, but he'd gone around four that morning to see if Summer had come home. As soon as he knocked softly on her door, the sinking feeling in his stomach had told him she wouldn't be there. Inside he knew where he could find her, he knew that Seth that there was no way Seth had heard her out the night before. And he knew what it was like to need comfort. Ryan sighed and twisted around his cup of coffee as he heard the front door squeak open. She was trying to be quiet he could tell that. But also knew that probably looked like the angry, worried dad waiting for his curfew breaking daughter to sneak back in the house. However Summer wasn't his daughter, she was a big girl. But still she froze when she saw him awake, and quickly glanced at her watch, ten minutes after five, she should have known he'd be awake already.

Their eyes locked and Ryan gave her a sympathetic smile, "I hope you know what you're doing." His voice was gentle, not reprimanding or condescending.

"You want the truth," she whispered as sat down at the table with him, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't have a clue," she forced out, through her quiet sobs. "Chino, I am so confused and so… I never wanted to hurt him."

"Seth or Trey?"

"Either one of them, I didn't want to hurt anyone and now it's all so screwed up. Cohen… I love him Ryan I really do but…" She took a long deep breath and forced her tears away. "Am I really in love with him? I mean how can I feel this way about someone else if I am? I don't know, they both make me feel so different. Cohen makes me happy and he makes me smile, and he makes me feel like I am the most wonderful woman in the world… And then with Trey, he makes me feel so alive when I'm with him. Like there's so much more out there and I'm a part of it all." Another deep breathing, she was trying so hard to keep her composure. "What's going on with me Chino, how can I feel this way," it all feel out, her sobs louder and creating pools of wetness on her dress.

Ryan walked over and gave her a tight hug, he hated seeing anyone cry, especially someone he loved. Her sobs got louder as she used his chest to muffle them, Ryan took a sigh and softly pulled her away from. "Trey's my brother and Seth's my best friend, so I'm interesting in seeing either one of them hurt, but I think it's a little to late for that."

"What do I do?" She pleaded with him to give her the answers to questions she couldn't force herself to answer.

"I can't tell you what to do right now, anymore than you could tell me what to do when I was pushing Marissa away all those years ago. But you did give me a damn good piece of your mind, so I'll return the favor." He paused to crouch down where he could look her in the eyes, "Sometimes life changes to so fast that it blindsides us and we don't know what to do. And in times like that most people, they seek comfort. Comfort to protect them from the loneliness, comfort that will make everything stop changing so they don't have to face things… I know what it's like to need that, but you have to make sure that you don't take that too far. Because when you do everything just gets more confused and it makes it harder to see what's real and what's just a contrived situation to stop the world from moving on you."

_I'm my most peculiar in the evening_

_When I've been deprived of rest _

_And I lay my head upon you_

_Only nonsense on my breath_

Seth had spend day the night pacing, and the other half lying in bed rubbing his temples trying to pretend like the night before hadn't happened. He wanted it to all be a bad dream. The image of Summer kissing Trey had been nothing compared to the image of her being with him. It was an image he'd forced upon himself because it was something he'd caused her to do. Over and over he'd berated himself. They had fought, he'd been angry but with every right. He had refused to hear her out, thrown a ring at her, and when he'd driven to her apartment at three am to apologize and try and figure out how to fix thing, her car was no where to be found. Seth knew where she'd gone, and he was sicker with himself than he was with her. What could he have done to make things different, was this all his fault, shouldn't he have been there for her. It had been those thoughts that hadn't let him get any sleep. Deep inside he knew that wasn't the truth, of she was going to fall for someone else it was going to happen, he couldn't stop that anymore than he could have stopped himself from falling for her when he was a kid.

Seth thought about the time they'd spent together over the years, nights of lying in bed, her fingers playing with the curls in his hair as he rambled on about a movie she'd never seen or a book she'd never read. Every so often he'd look up to find her with a dreamy gaze on her face, intently listening to his rambles. She had loved him, he knew he hadn't just made that up in his head, she still loved him, he knew that or she wouldn't have tried to explain anything to him. He had tried rationalizing, everyone makes mistakes, what makes her any different. Most of the day he'd tried to force that thought into his head, only to find that her actions had knocked her off the pedestal. What Seth had to accept now what that Summer wasn't his Goddess anymore, she was just a person flesh and blood like anyone else.

_I'm my most withdrawn in the evening_

_When I've had a bitter day_

_I'll tell you all that's on my chest_

And you've nothing left to say 

_Was it a play you'd been rehearsing_

_Have I been drawn on in_

_Is this some game you've made for me_

_Is it one that I can win?_

Seth didn't need her to knock, he knew she was there before. But still he waited, he wanted to give her the chance to turn around. Silently he wondered if she was just there to get her stuff, but inside he knew Summer better than that. The knock came and he waited, giving her more time

"Come in," he finally called no emotion to his voice.

It took all the strength she had to open the door, it took even more to step inside the room. "Hey," her voice so soft he could barely hear her.

He forced himself to look at her, and as he did he felt his fists clench. Seth wanted to be mad at her, after all he was, but more than that he was hurting. And seeing her, with puffy cheeks and eyes swollen from crying, it just pained him even more. Maybe he didn't understand what she was going through, but he didn't have to, even if a part of him wanted to. "Hey," he finally responded to back to her.

"Cohen, I…" She stopped her words trying to gather the strength to finish what she had to tell him.

"I know," he quickly let her know. As much as he wanted to hear her say out loud what she had done, he knew that the pain he would feel from hearing would simply be too much for him to handle right then.

"You know?"

He nodded, his face cold and serious. "Yeah I know, and I don't really want to look at you right now, so if that's all you have to say then you can leave." He swallowed hard, he didn't want to force her from his life, but he wasn't sure of what was happening between them and he didn't have the strength to fight another man for her right then. He would if need be, but he wasn't going to fight a losing battle, and he wasn't going to fight her heart. Seth knew that it was truly useless to fight a person's heart because in the end it's always going to win, and he was going to make sure that she knew that. "Summer, I love you… I can tell you that right now, but other than that I don't have a whole lot to say to you… Figure out what you want," he reached over into his bedside drawer and pulled out the box he'd thrown at her the night before and set it on top of his nightstand. "And well, just know that's here if you want it. It might take me some time to give it to you know, but it's still here." With those words he rolled over on the bed facing away from her and waited for her to leave.

_I'm my most relaxed in your arms_

You'll find me honest there 

_Searching for my truthfulness_

_You'll find it somewhere near_

Trey laid in his bed and what he hadn't realized the night before was that if he listened hard enough he could hear the ocean crashing against the shoreline. That thought made him smile, when he'd first noticed it he thought that maybe it was just his mind reverting back in order to put him to sleep. But when he listened harder he knew it was actually the ocean, it sounded much like it had the night on the beach with Summer. A small smile crossed his face as he thought of that evening, followed by a sick feeling to his stomach. What had he done, his own words echoed through his mind, "I didn't just make one mistake, I made a lot of mistakes that led up to one moment." Was it just another mistake, and if it was, was it his mistake or hers. Hadn't he tried to stop her, she wouldn't let him. But he always could have tried harder, he berated himself. Her scent was still on his pillows and it wasn't making it any easier to forget. Trey knew better than anyone that his actions had always had consequences, not just for him but for other people too. Everything was rushing through his mind so quickly, he didn't want to think about any of it. So he let himself focus on the ocean, much like he had in prison, only this time it was the real ocean. The ocean, he smiled to himself as Summer's face when he threw her into the ocean popped into his head. The ocean and Summer were his last thoughts as he drifted to sleep.

_I'm my most myself around you_

I love you better still 

_Can't see myself with no one else_

_Don't think I ever will_

Summer stared up at her ceiling and wondered how many other people in the world were doing the exact same thing at that very moment. She knew sleep wasn't going to happen tonight, she had too much to think about. Why couldn't everything be easy like it was when you were a little kid. Why could all decisions in life be juice or milk? She laughed to herself as she thought how she'd just made a reference to juice or milk in her own thoughts. That's the kind of reference Cohen would make. She smiled to herself, at the thought of Cohen. She gave a soft laugh and as she did she heard the ocean in the distance, and another smile crossed her face, as she thought of Trey. She wondered if he could hear the ocean from his bed, knowing how happy it would make him if he could. A deep sigh crossed her lips, as she thought to herself again, juice or milk?


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Okay I've been kicking this story out so fast because up until this chapter, its been really easy to write because the characters knew where they were going and had purpose. However this being the next to last chapter was difficult because I know how I want this story to end, I just couldn't figure out how to approach it and get there. So if this seems like a filler chapter, that's because it is. On another note, I am totally loving how much debate among readers this story is getting… Some people can't stand the idea of Summer and Trey, while others are into it. Oh and one other thing, for everyone who is totally ripping Summer for what's going on, please remember that Seth, (even though I may not address them in this story) has had his fair share of screw ups, and no one ever jumps his case

Chapter Twelve

"Hold on I'm getting dressed," Seth quickly pulled a shirt on over his head, and ran to answer the knock on his door. The knock got louder and more persistent, "Hold on I'm right here," he cried out as he slung the door open. As soon as his brain processed the figure in front of him, his eyes cut cold and he felt a rush of fire fly through his veins. After a slight hesitation, Seth moved to slam the door shut.

"Wait, I'm just here to talk," Trey caught the closing door with his foot.

The sound of his voice turned Seth's blood from fire to ice, and the image of him with Summer, made his head snap. Seth had never been much of a fighter, but lately his instincts had been kicking in. His fist slammed out and cracked Trey square in his left eyes.

"Okay I deserved that," Trey winced in pain and shook his head violently. "You got anymore cause I deserve those too."

"I don't know what possessed you to come here, or what exactly you want to talk about, but just fucking go before… I don't know before I get hurt." The words were practically spit like venom from his mouth.

"Look man I came to talk about Summer."

"What about her? You already won alright; she left me and went to you. She didn't go home and cry, she didn't try to stay and talk about things, she left me and went straight to you. You already won what else do you want my blessing? Well if that's what you're after, fuck you. Because you don't know a damn thing about her. I'd be surprised if you even knew her last name, you didn't sit behind her in the fifth grade and memorized every word she said. You haven't made her hopes and dreams your own. You never had to spend every ounce of courage in you just to be able to talk to her. She hasn't been the only thing you've ever wanted since you were ten years old… When she's all that to you, then come back. I'll probably punch you again but then… I might give you a blessing."

Trey held his hands up in defense, "You're right okay, about everything. But you may not believe but I didn't plan any of this. She wasn't some girl I looked at and thought, 'yeah she'd be a great lay, I'll get in that.' I've thought that about a lot of girls before, but not her. So whatever you think about me…" he paused and shook his head.

"I don't know why you came here," Seth's voice gruff and full of hurt and betrayal.

"I came to apologize, but I see now that I never should have come here," he looked out past the Cohen's pool. "Never should have come here at all." Quickly Trey turned to leave.

"You won't make her happy. You can't." Seth called out to Trey's back.

Trey stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned his head around to look Seth directly in the eyes for the first time, "Probably not." With that he turned around and left.

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"You're dad told me you didn't want any visitors, do I just decided not to knock," Ryan said as he walked directly into the pool house to find Seth with an ice pack over his right hand.

"How do you do it?" Seth looked up from his hand to Ryan.

"Do what?"

"Dude punching people hurts, how do you do it?"

Ryan smiled at his best friend's half joke; "I get to wear gloves… Your hand looks pretty bad, left me take a look."

Seth removed his ice pack and held his hand out to Ryan, "Thanks… So are you pissed at me?"

Ryan cut his eyes up to Seth then back down to his hand, "People do stupid things when they're angry"

"You're telling me, I've never hit anyone before in my life and in the past three days, I've hit two people."

"Two?" His eyebrows raised, he knew that Seth hadn't hit Summer, but who else had he seen to hit.

"Yeah, Trey and I had a run in…"

"Well you should have punched him to begin with and not me, not your smartest move."

"Yeah I know… He wanted to talk, so I punched him, then I let him have it. Truthfully I don't even know what he wanted to talk about I was so busy giving him a piece of my thoughts, the only thing I really heard him say was that he didn't plan for all of this. And you know what Ryan, I actually believe him. I don't think anyone plans to fall for Summer, I think she just sort of happens, you know what I mean?"

"I don't think anyone plans things like this, I think the only way for them to happen, is… for them to just happen. And once they do you can't really fight them, I mean look at me and Marissa man. She happened and I fought it tooth and nail. I fought harder than ever in my life to stay away from that girl and it didn't work… But if you notice, she fought me, because she knew that sometimes even after things happen, you still gotta make them happen." Ryan put the ice pack back on Seth's hand, and looked into his eyes. "You ever hit me again…" He smiled a real smile, "It's not broken."

Seth knew Ryan was talking about something deeper than just his hand, and for the first time in days, he smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Summer looked up as she heard footsteps approaching. She'd been curled in a ball waiting outside form him. It felt like she'd been there for hours, it felt like he was never going to come home. "Hey," she looked up from her knees as whispered as he got within an earshot.

"Hey," he took a few steps back surprise before reaching his hand out to help. "What are you doing here?"

"Well you haven't exactly been taking my calls, and I figured you had either left town or you were avoiding me. And the only way for me to figure out which one it exactly was would be to sit here all night and see if you ever came home."

"Oh," Trey fumbled with his keys in his jacket pocket.

"So you were avoiding me," Summer reached down and brushed herself off before moving forward to look at him closer. "Oh my God what happened to your eyes," she reached out and barely ran her fingers along his bruised eye.

"It's nothing," he roughly jerked his head away. "I deserved it."

"What do you mean you deserved it… Did…" There's no way, she thought to herself before voicing her thoughts out loud. "Did Cohen do this to you, God is he turning into Ryan."

"It's nothing Summer, it was my fault, I was stupid. I thought… I don't know what I was thinking…" he sighed and finished his sentence quietly, "About anything." His hands ran over his face and rested on his eyes as he spoke.

"Trey," Summer reached forward only to have him jerk away from her again like a wounded puppy. "Why are you pulling away from me?"

A thick lump slid down his throat and he tried to speak several times before the words would come out, "Don't Summer… I don't know why you're here but you should probably go."

"Why so you can continue to avoid me, do you not get why I'm here? I could have been calling Cohen all week but I called you, I could be at Cohen's right now but I'm here."

"Yeah I get it Summer, but what do you expect me to do, be glad that you're here out of sympathy?"

His words were so harsh and bitter, he'd never spoken to her like that. A part of her was shock, a part of her expected it given her past, and a part of her knew she had to make him understand. "I don't think you do get it. Trey the time I've spent with you… I've never felt more alive, I've never had someone who's shown me life the way you have. When I'm with you the world feels like it's this real big thing that I'm a part of, and that I can make or break, or have it make or break me. When I'm with you my heart feels like it wants to explode into a million fireworks in the sky for everyone to see and they spell out your name. I think…" Summer fell silent and inched closer to him. She reached out and ran the back of her fingers against his cheek, "Trey, I…"

He sharply jumped back and grabbed her hand, gently pushing it away from him, "Don't" He whispered his voice rough. Trey reached down and grabbed her other hand, pulling her against him for a second then pushing her back. "Don't say it, because you don't. I know you don't because I don't. And even if you did… Well if you did you wouldn't have left before the sun came up."

"Trey I left because…"

"Because you were ashamed, you came to me for comfort and when the sun started to break you realized what you'd done and you were ashamed…." Trey sighed and pushed his hands through his hair, stopping for a second to give it a brief pull. "You don't love me anymore than I love you, and I don't even know if I love myself, so how could I love another person. But I do know, that somewhere in this town there's a guy who's sitting by himself right now, probably staring at a picture of you and him together. And he's been in love with you for fifteen years," his voice dropped in tone a bit, "I haven't even known you fifteen days." His head shook a bit and he gave her a half a a pained smile. "And that guy is the reason you couldn't stay the night with me, because it's that guy that you're in love with…. Summer you're amazing. You're beautiful and you're witty and you get me… And I love you for all of that stuff, but more than anything I love you for believing in me the way you do because it's like no one else has. But I'm not in love with you and I hope that when I'm able to fall in love with a girl, she's half of what you are, even though I don't even deserve that. But you deserve the guy who's in love with you, and who you're in love with." Trey finished his speech, then impulsviely pulled her into a hug, he could fell her tears against his chest but they weren't tears of sadness, which made him smile a bit. Softly he pulled her back and gave her a simple kiss on the forehead. "You're always gonna deserve better than me, don't make me regret what I just said."

Summer pulled away from, quickly she wiped her tears away as if she were trying to stop him from seeing them, even though she knew he'd already seen them. All she could manage to do was nod and pull him into another hug. "Thank you," she whispered softly as she tore herself away from him.

Trey felt his heart sinking in his chest as he watched Summer walk down the stairs and leave. The air around him got heavy, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe. The only thing he had to compare it too was the day he walked into the prison for his first lock down. Once again his only savior was the ocean, Trey pulled his jacket tight on himself and started downstairs towards the ocean.

Ryan had seen in all in the distance, he hadn't heard the words, but he had been able to make out the actions. When he saw Trey head towards the beach, he could only imagine how his brother must have felt. Ryan had never been one to crowd anyone, so he gave Trey a few minutes alone before following him. Just as he'd figured Trey was on the beach, standing barefoot where the waves were hitting his feet.

"You know all those years I used to listen to you talk about how one day you were gonna live on the beach… It must be nice to be able to walk out of your apartment and onto the beach." Trey didn't turn around, only nodded at the sound of his brother's voice. Ryan could feel his brother's pain, he could tell that whatever he'd told Summer in order to make her leave, whatever those words had been, they had all been lies. Trey had always been good at lying, it's just most of the time he did it for his own benefit. Ryan sighed and put his hand on his brother's shoulder, "It sucks huh?"

"Yeah it does." His voice dry and raspy.

"You gonna be okay?"

Trey pondered this question for a moment before nodding again. "Yeah man I think I am…" He gave himself a smile bittersweet smile, "For the first time in my life, I didn't do what was best for me… For the first time in my life I just did the right thing."

Fin

A/N: You know, I knew from the get go this was going to be a Summer and Trey story. It was a different idea, I haven't seen any other Summer and Trey stories. But I didn't expect them to grow on me like they have, I didn't expect to enjoy writing them so much, and to have it come so easily (which is why this story was finished so fast). Now the question is, should that be the end of Summer and Trey?


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